Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper Murder Cassie Jo Stoddart

Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper were two teens from Idaho who would murder their friend Cassie Jo Stoddart

According to court documents Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper wanted to become serial killers and decided the best way to start was to murder their friend Cassie Jo Stoddart

On September 22 2006 Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper would go over to a home that Cassie Jo Stoddart was looking after while the owners were out of town. During the night one of the teen killers would unlock a door then the two would leave the premise saying they were going to go see a movie

Later that night Torey Adamcik and Brian Draper would return to the home where they would attack and fatally stab Cassie Jo Stoddart

The body of Cassie Jo Stoddart would be discovered on September 24 2006. Initially the investigation would focus on Cassie Jo boyfriend however soon investigators would focus on Torey and Brian. The two teens who had filmed themselves before and after the murder story would soon fall apart and the two would be arrested and charged with her murder

At trial the wannabe serial killers attempted to shift the blame by blaming the other. In the end the two would be found guilty of the murder and be sentenced to life in prison

Torey Adamcik Current Information

Torey Michael Adamcik
IDOC #: 86328
Status: In custody
Age: 35

Mailing Address
Idaho Maximum Security Institution G Block

Brian Draper Current Information

Brian Lee Draper
IDOC #: 85763
Status: In custody
Age: 35

Mailing Address
Idaho State Correctional Institution Unit 14

Torey Adamcik And Brian Draper Case

On Sunday, September 24, 2006, 16-year-old Cassie Jo Stoddart was found viciously stabbed to death in a family member’s small-town Idaho home where she’d been pet-sitting.

Responding to a 911 call made by a relative, Robert Rausch, then an Idaho State Police lieutenant, arrived to find the teen on the floor in the Pocatello home and “lots of blood,” he said in “The Secret in Black Rock Canyon” episode of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered.

Local law enforcement mustered every resource, while Cassie’s devastated mother Anna Stoddart was plunged into “a complete state of shock,” she said. “Who could do this to my daughter?”

Investigators asked the same hard question. They initially struggled to find anyone with motive, but a journey into the nearby desert unearthed the key to unlocking the shocking case.

Who was Cassie Jo Stoddart?
A junior at Pocatello High School, Cassie was popular, earned good grades, and was known for being reliable. On September 22, 2006, she and her boyfriend, Matt Beckham, had gone to her relative’s residence to house-sit.

Two days later, on Sunday afternoon, the relatives arrived home “to this horror,” Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison says in the episode.

News of the crime spread quickly around the community and to Cassie’s school. “I had lost students to car accidents, but never something like that,” said art teacher Bob Beason.

Piecing together the evidence
Police searched the crime scene. There was no murder weapon or signs of forced entry or a robbery.

“It was clear that Cassie put up an extreme fight,” Idaho State Police Capt. John Ganske told Dateline. “She fought for her life.”

The violence surrounding Cassie’s final moments was in stark contrast to the morning of Friday, September 22, when she was caught on video at her school locker and gave a casual “Hi” to the camera.

After school, Anna picked up Cassie and Matt and drove them to the home where the teens stepped up to watch the dogs and cats for the weekend.

Anna checked in with her daughter with a call at around 9:30 p.m. It was the last time she spoke to Cassie.

Power outage puzzles detectives
At around 10 p.m. on Friday night, the electricity went off in the home where Cassie and her boyfriend were pet-sitting, before eventually coming back on. The blackout unsettled the teens. Matt called his parents and told them about it.

He reluctantly went home when his folks picked him up at around 11:15 p.m. Cassie declined to go with him since she was responsible for the pets.

Investigators processed the basement fuse box and found fingerprints that were a match for Anna’s boyfriend. He became a person of interest but had a solid alibi that cleared him from suspicion.

Police turned their attention to Matt, whose lack of emotion and “flat” response to the murder raised a red flag for officials.

Classmate Justin Sands described Matt as “a goofball” to Dateline, adding, “He was a good kid.”

Matt agreed to a polygraph test and passed “with flying colors,” said Ganske.

Cassie Jo Stoddart’s boyfriend drops bombshell revelation
Matt also revealed a fact that would change the course of the case. He told detectives that on September 22, two fellow students from the teens’ school, Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik, had also been at the house.

They’d dropped by and had watched Kill Bill: Volume 2 before leaving at around 9:30 p.m. When they were interviewed by police, Draper and Adamcik claimed they went to a movie after leaving.

When neither teen could recall what the movie they said they’d went to was about, that sent up a flare. A theater employee who went to school with the teens confirmed that they were not at the movie.

“We knew that they were lying to us,” said Ganske. “Now we have to figure out, why are they lying to us?”

Confronted by police, Draper said that he and Adamcik had lied because they’d been burglarizing cars. He denied having anything to do with Cassie’s murder.

Draper agreed to take a polygraph test the next day. But before the exam began, he became distraught and said he needed to speak with the detectives.

Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik become suspects
Accompanied by his parents, Brian Draper stated that he and Torey Adamcik had covertly returned to the home where Cassie was pet-sitting. They turned off the power to frighten Cassie and wore masks to disguise themselves.

Draper claimed that he was shocked when Torey Adamcik started stabbing Cassie. “It was supposed to be a joke,” he said.

Draper eventually led detectives to an area near Blackrock Canyon in Idaho where he and Adamcik had buried evidence of their heinous crime.

Shocking video is found
Amid the clothing, weapons and masks, there was a burned videotape. Experts were able to salvage the tape — and what was on it chilled seasoned detectives.

The video showed that Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik were determined to make their own real-life version of the slasher movie Scream. It opened with the scene of Cassie at her school locker.

Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik recorded themselves in the library creating a “death list.” Cassie was targeted because her killers believed that she’d be house-sitting by herself.

“She has to be the one,” said Draper. “We have to stick to the plan.”

When the teens stopped by and watched a movie, their motives were far more sinister. They were there to get a feel for the layout of the house and to secretly unlock a basement door so they could sneak back in later.

The pair recorded themselves waiting nearby before returning to carry out their deadly plan. Had Matt stayed, police believe it would have been a double-homicide.

“Shortly after Matt left, it was time for the final act,” Morrison said on Dateline.

The teens cut the power again. Wearing masks and gloves and armed with hunting knives, they crept upstairs and slaughtered Cassie.

“We just killed Cassie,” said one of them in the video. “This is not a joke.”

What happened to Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik?
Draper and Adamcik were charged with first-degree murder. Investigators gathered evidence showing that the two teens had been “living in their own personal horror movie fantasy,” said Morrison.

“Prosecutors discovered a kill list with a dozen other student names,” Morrison added. “Their goal was to commit another Columbine-style school shooting.”

Both teens were found guilty and sentenced in 2007 to life without parole. They’re now behind bars at the Idaho State Correctional Institution.

Some 15 years after the murder, a regretful Draper spoke by phone with Morrison about the murder.

At the time of the crime, Draper “felt like a nobody,” he said. “I felt like I’d be somebody if I did something, you know, big and bad.”

Draper said he “would do anything” to change his past. “I think about that all the time.”

Anna Stoddart died in 2022 from cancer. In a 2009 Dateline interview, she spoke about how time had been stolen from her beloved daughter Cassie.

“The way she was taken from us just wasn’t fair,” Anna said. “Too young, she had too much more to do in her life.”

Brian Draper, Torey Adamcik Kill Teen Cassie Jo Stoddart

Torey Adamcik And Brian Draper Video

Cassie Jo Stoddart: Murdered by Friends 

On September 22, 2006, 16-year-old Cassie Jo Stoddart was house-sitting for her aunt and uncle in Pocatello, Idaho. She was watching Kill Bill: Volume 2 with her boyfriend Matt Beckham when two classmates stopped by to “hang out.”

Before they left, one of them unlocked the basement door.

Hours later, after her boyfriend went home, those same boys — Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik, both 16 — crept back inside wearing masks and dark clothing, cut the power at the circuit breaker, and stabbed Cassie approximately thirty times in the living room.

They filmed the plan beforehand. They wanted to be horror movie killers. They called themselves the next Columbine.

Who Was Cassie Jo Stoddart?

Cassie Jo Stoddart was born December 21, 1989. She was a 16-year-old high school junior at Pocatello High School, described as kind, animal-loving, and responsible.

On the night of September 22, 2006, she was pet sitting her aunt and uncle’s dogs at their home on Whispering Cliffs Drive in northeast Bannock County while the Contreras family was out of town.

Cassie Jo Stoddart, a 16-year-old high school junior, was a victim of a thrill killing in Pocatello, Idaho on September 22, 2006, while pet sitting her aunt and uncle’s dogs at their home.

The Killers: Brian Draper and Torey Adamcik

Brian Lee Draper – born March 21, 1990 in Sandy, Utah. Moved to Idaho. Quiet, into filmmaking.

Torey Michael Adamcik (pronounced ADAM-chick) – born June 14, 1990 in Pocatello.

The two met as sophomores at Pocatello High School. Both were obsessed with films and started recording their own. They were also obsessed with fame and pleasure, wanting to go on a killing spree hoping to outdo Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre, as well as the fictional Billy Loomis and Stu Macher from the first Scream film.

They made tapes detailing their plan and motive. They would mention Harris and Klebold in their homemade videos, and were reportedly planning a “Columbine-like” shooting. Draper and Adamcik would choose their two friends Matt Beckham and Cassie Jo Stoddart as their first victims.

The perpetrators claimed that they were inspired to murder Stoddart by the slasher film Scream, which led to them being nicknamed “The Scream Killers.”

The Weapons

A friend, Joe Lucero, testified he bought four knives for them at a pawn shop — $40 from Draper, $5 from Adamcik. Draper specifically claimed the serrated knife. The murder weapons were a dagger-type knife and a hunting knife.

September 22, 2006: The Night of the Murder

The timeline is chilling because Cassie knew her killers:

6:00 p.m. – Boyfriend Matt Beckham arrives. Draper and Adamcik come over later to hang out. Cassie gives them a tour, including the basement.

During the visit – Draper secretly unlocks the basement door so they can re-enter undetected.

∼8:30 p.m. – Draper and Adamcik leave early, saying they’re going to the movies. They don’t. They drive down the street, put on dark clothing, gloves, and white painted masks, and sneak back in through the basement.

Inside the house – They intentionally made loud noises to lure Beckham and Cassie downstairs “so they could scare them.” It didn’t work. Next, they found the circuit breaker and turned off the power, hoping the pair would come down to check. When they didn’t, the boys turned some lights back on.

Cassie became uneasy. The family dog kept staring down the basement stairs, barking. Beckham called his mother and asked if he could stay. She said no, but offered to let Cassie come to their house. Cassie declined — she felt responsible for the pets.

10:30 p.m. – Beckham’s mother picks him up, leaving Cassie alone. Beckham calls Adamcik’s cell. Adamcik whispers, pretending to be in a movie theater.

After 10:30 p.m. – From the basement, Draper and Adamcik heard Beckham leave. They turned the lights out again at the circuit breaker and waited. When Cassie didn’t come down, they went upstairs.

Draper was armed with a dagger-type weapon, and Adamcik had a hunting knife. Draper opened and slammed a closet door at the top of the stairs to scare Cassie, who was lying on the couch. The boys then attacked her, stabbing her approximately thirty times; twelve wounds were potentially fatal.

It is believed that two knives were used, one with a serrated edge, and one without. Most wounds were caused by the serrated blade, but the wound that pierced her heart was caused by the non-serrated blade.

Cassie’s body was discovered two days later when her relatives returned home.

The Videotapes

During the investigation, police found that Draper and Adamcik had made video-tapes detailing their plan to murder Stoddart and other classmates. This footage was shown at their trials.

On the tapes, filmed in a car earlier that day, they talk in monotone voices about killing Cassie. Draper says: “We’re gonna kill Cassie and we’re gonna get away with it.” Adamcik responds about being serial killers. They list other victims on a “Death List.”

They also recorded themselves at school, wearing trench coats, talking about Columbine. In a passage shown in court titled “Columbine,” Draper wrote:

“I am becoming more and more obsessed with Columbine. It seems now that that’s all I think about. I would give anything to go back in time, and be a part of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s lives. They are my heroes. I will follow in their footsteps…”

The Investigation: How They Got Caught

Police first looked at Cassie’s mother’s boyfriend (his fingerprints were on the breaker from prior electrical work) and then Matt Beckham. Beckham passed a polygraph and was cleared.

Draper and Adamcik told police they went to see the movie Pulse. They couldn’t recount any details. Then they claimed they were “going through cars.” Under pressure, Draper confessed but downplayed his role.

Draper led investigators to Black Rock Canyon, where they had partially burned and buried the clothing, masks, and weapons. Police recovered a partially burned VHS tape, which after restoration, showed their planning videos.

Both were arrested on September 27, 2006, five days after the murder, and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy.

Trial and Sentences

The prosecution revealed the teens were inspired by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who committed the Columbine High School massacre, as well as the Scream horror film franchise.

Both were convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy:

• Brian Draper – convicted April 17, 2007
• Torey Adamcik – convicted June 8, 2007

On August 31, 2007, each received a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, plus thirty years-to-life for conspiracy.

Both perpetrators received sentences of life imprisonment without parole on August 24, 2007.

Appeals and Where They Are Now

Both are serving time at Idaho State Correctional Institution near Kuna.

Appeals:

• Idaho Supreme Court denied first appeals in 2011 (3-2 decision). Draper’s conspiracy conviction was vacated due to jury instruction error, but his life sentence stood.
• Adamcik filed federal habeas corpus citing Miller v. Alabama (banning mandatory juvenile life without parole). In November 2019, a federal magistrate denied it. The Ninth Circuit upheld the sentence in March 2022.
• In November 2019, Adamcik’s sentence was upheld after his appeal was denied by the Idaho Supreme Court.

As of 2026, both are 35-36 years old and will die in prison unless Idaho law changes.

Motive: Sadism and Thrill

The official motive listed by investigators was sadism and thrill. They did not kill for money, revenge, or anger. They killed because they wanted to know what it felt like, wanted fame, and wanted to copy a movie.

The attack type is classified as thrill killing, child murder, stabbing, and copycat crime.

Aftermath and Legacy

Cassie’s funeral was held October 1, 2006 and attended by 500 people.

Her family started “Pumpkins for Cassie” each October — giving away pumpkins in exchange for donations to the Pocatello Animal Shelter and Idaho Food Bank, honoring Cassie’s love of animals.

In 2010, the Stoddart family sued the Pocatello School District for negligence, claiming the school should have known Draper and Adamcik posed a threat. Both the civil court and Idaho Supreme Court dismissed the case, saying the actions were not foreseeable.

The case has been featured on:

• Dateline NBC “The Secret in Black Rock Canyon” (2024) with Keith Morrison
• Cold Justice “Still of the Night”
• Multiple podcasts including True Crime All The Time, Morbid, and Crime Junkie

In February 2023, the full tape recordings were released via Idaho Public Records Act, reigniting interest on TikTok and YouTube.